Accountability

Means by which individuals and organisations report their actions and are answerable to others for what they have done.

Accountable Body

An organisation that is held accountable for the spending of a significant amount of public funds.

Aim (Overall)

The overall aim is the same as the Mission.

Aims (Specific)

Particular changes or differences the project or organisation plans to bring about for its users.

Audit

Independent, objective assurance activity.

Baseline

A measurement that is taken at the start of an initiative, usually in statistical terms, e.g. number of people in a local area who are unemployed. The initiative can then be measured as to how effective it has been at impacting the baseline measure.

Benchmark

A standard of achievement that a project has already achieved, which it can compare with other achievements (of its own or of other projects).

Benchmarking

Systematic comparison of performance and processes. E.g.:

§ measuring what you do

§ comparing your organisation to others

§ identifying gaps in performance - 'fail' points where the expectations of internal or external customers are not met

§ looking for new ways of reducing those gaps by learning from others

§ putting the new ideas into practice

§ reviewing the benefits of what you have done.

Best Value

A central government policy that seeks to get local authorities to continuously improve their performance.

Big Lottery Fund

The name of the lottery money distributor. It is the result of merging the Community Fund and the New Opportunities Fund.

Breach

Used to describe a Compact undertaking that has not been followed (most likely through lack of awareness or misunderstanding than being deliberate) and which can be remedied through the compliance procedures.

Capacity

All the resources available to an organisation, including people, money, equipment, expertise and information.

Capacity Builders

A sector-led agency at arm's length from government, responsible for managing ChangeUp funds, strengthening accountability and sector ownership of the ChangeUp programme, and ensuring its benefits to frontline organisations.

Capacity Building

Empowering activity that strengthens the ability of VCOs to build their structures, systems, people, and skills so that they are better able to:

§ define and achieve their objectives

§ engage in consultation and planning

§ manage projects

§ take part in partnerships, social enterprise and service delivery.

Change Up

A policy and funding initiative designed to support the infrastructure of the voluntary and community sector.

Charity Commission

The body that regulates registered charities in England and Wales.

Children's fund

A central government fund designed to support projects that undertake work with children.

Citizenship

The central government policy designed to promote people becoming good citizens - being active in their local community through volunteering etc. Citizenship education is now compulsory for young people in secondary schools.

City Academy

A government initiative designed to promote new schools being developed through partnerships between central government, a local authority and a sponsor organisation (which could be a private sector company, voluntary sector organisation or faith group).

Civil Renewal

A government initiative to increase citizen's participation in their local community and also their democratic engagement.

Coalfields Regeneration

A series of funds designed to promote regeneration in former coalfields areas.

Community Chests

A fund aimed at providing small grants of up to £5000 to community groups in deprived areas.

Community Cohesion

The aim of various community cohesion initiatives are to appreciate and celebrate diversity between people in local communities, promote understanding and reduce hostilities.

Community Development

Building active and sustainable communities based on social justice and mutual respect. It is about changing power structures to remove the barriers that prevent people from participating in the issues that affect their lives. It promotes the active involvement of people through sharing power, skills, knowledge and expertise.

Community Empowerment Fund (CEF)

A fund to help community and voluntary sector groups get involved in decisions about how public services are delivered in their area.

Community Empowerment Network

A structure designed to ensure that Local Strategic Partnerships in all neighbourhood renewal areas do engage effectively with the community.

Community Fund

A former lottery distributor fund that has now been merged into the Big Lottery Fund.

Community Group

A group of people with a common cause, often neighbourhood-based but may focus on a single issue for campaigning or self-help. Community groups are likely to be small, local, informal, unfunded and volunteer-run rather than employing staff. The blanket term for these groups is the community sector, which forms by far the largest part of the voluntary and community sector.

Community Interest Company (CIC)

An organisation wishing to become a CIC must have aims and undertake activities that are 'for the benefit of the community'. This means it exists to benefit the wider community rather than for individual private gain or to promote the interests of a small group of people. CICs are designed to be businesses governed by company law so they cannot register as charities.

Community Learning Chest (CLC)

A fund aimed at providing small grants to assist individuals or groups in accessing learning in order to be involved in regeneration activities. Only available in the most deprived areas.

Community Network

Same as Community Empowerment Network (CEN) but not in one of the 88 most deprived areas.

Community Strategy

Sometimes called the Community Plan, this is the key local document led by the council, reflecting needs and aspirations identified by local people and agreed between agencies through the Local Strategic Partnership. In setting out the vision for the area's future, the Strategy must by law also include the needs and plans of the sector. A Local Compact should explicitly underpin the sector's involvement in the community planning process.

Compact

An agreement between a public sector body and the voluntary sector. Following the development of a national compact, local authorities, health authorities and other public sector agencies are developing local compacts stating how they will work in partnership with voluntary sector groups.

Compact Champion

An official tasked to promote the Compact in their government department. Locally, departments of public bodies, partnership boards and voluntary organisations may have Compact champions to promote the Local Compact and help drive implementation.

Compact Group

Locally, this may be known as the Local Compact Steering Group, Monitoring, Management or Implementation Group and is responsible for taking the Local Compact forward. Nationally, Compact Voice includes members representing the sector's diversity, supported by staff based at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

Company Limited by Guarantee

A company limited by guarantee does not have shares or shareholders, and cannot distribute profits. Instead it has members, who may pay a subscription and are each liable for a limited sum if it is wound up (the guarantee). The members elect a board, or committee, or directors, and can remove them but the board has day-to-day control.

Compliance

A Compact always includes undertakings (commitments, promises) on both sides and sometimes joint ones too. Compliance is about following and carrying out these undertakings along with the mechanisms (such as mediation or the Ombudsman) for resolving disagreements or alleged breaches.

Comprehensive Performance Assessments (CPA)

Comprehensive Performance Assessment was introduced in 2002 and is designed to support councils to deliver improvements in services to local people. CPA looked at how well the councils deliver their services, for example education, social care and housing. It also considers how well the council is run as this will impact on how they will deliver their services in the future.

Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR)

Treasury review of public sector spending across all Whitehall departments to plan expenditure over the next three years.

Connexions

Statutory agency providing advice and support for people aged between 13 and 19.

Constitution

An agreement between the members about what the organisation is for and how it should run - the written rules. It regulates the organisation's dealings with

other people and other organisations.

Consultation

A two-way process by which an organisation (typically a government department or local public body) seeks views to check whether proposals are right and supported, gauge their impact and identify alternatives before decisions are made. This means options can be properly appraised in advance of policy or service changes or new laws being made. The Compact Consultation Code sets the framework for genuine, meaningful and timely consultation with the sector.

Core Costs

An organisation's central costs including administration, rent and some staff salaries.

Core Funding

Funding needed to meet Core Costs.

Cost-effectiveness

Comparison of costs and results.

Council for Voluntary Service

A local charitable organisation whose purpose is to support and help develop voluntary and community action in its area. A range of names can be used including those that omit council but include Community Action or Voluntary Action alongside the place name.

Culture

Behaviour and belief patterns found within an organisation are called organisational culture.

Diversity

This can refer to the huge variety of organisations in the sector arising from their scale, location and what they do or to society generally in relation to people having different social and cultural backgrounds, languages and beliefs, etc.

Education Action Zones (EAZ)

Local clusters of schools in deprived areas receiving special Government grants to work together to raise and maintain education standards.

Effectiveness

Extent to which objectives are achieved.

Efficiency

Measure of how economically resources are converted to results.

Empowerment

The process of enabling people to take responsibility for themselves and helping them to make decisions about their lives.

Enterprise Zones

Designated zones in deprived areas where businesses can get certain exemptions to encourage them to locate themselves there.

European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

European funds that are targeted at specific disadvantaged regions.

European Social Fund (ESF)

European funds are designed to support programmes aimed at promoting enterprise and employability, as a way of reducing social exclusion.

Evaluation

Using information from monitoring and elsewhere to make judgments on the performance of an organisation or project.

Faith Group

These often reflect ethnic diversity. Whilst worship, is central for most faith based groups, many run community services and represent community interests. As such they are eligible for funding and should be involved in Local Compact development.

Faith Schools

The designation given to schools with a religious ethos.

First Tier Organisation

See Frontline Organisations below

Floor Targets

Minimum standards set by the government for improvements in deprived areas, covering five areas: unemployment, crime, education, health and the environment.

Frontline Organisations

VCOs working directly with the public, or particular target groups or communities.

Full Cost Recovery

Full costs are the direct costs of your project or service plus a relevant portion of organisational overheads. The process by which voluntary groups delivering public services are expected to be able to cover all their costs (including a proportion of Core Costs).

Futurebuilders

A £125m fund designed to assist voluntary sector groups (through a mix of grants and loans) who wish to deliver public services

Generic Infrastructure Organisations

Organisations which support all frontline VCOs in a particular geographical area.
See also Specialist infrastructure organisations

Genuine Occupational Requirement (GOR)

The justification that must be provided by religious organisations who wish to designate a specific post as being one which requires the post-holder to be drawn from the organisation's faith basis.

Governance

The systems and processes concerned with ensuring the overall direction, effectiveness, supervision and accountability of an organisation

Government Offices in the Regions (GO)

An office of central government in each region with responsibility for applying/administering certain central government policies in the region.

Health Action Zone

Partnerships between the NHS, local authorities, community and voluntary sector groups aimed at tackling health inequalities.

Health Compact

A term used in a very few areas for a Local Compact between typically just the Primary Care Trust and the sector prior to agreeing separate Compacts involving another public body or drawing up one involving all of them.

Healthy Living Centre

A network of centres across the UK promoting health and healthy lifestyles in deprived areas.

Housing Association

Non profit landlords providing housing to people in housing need. Housing Associations registered with the Housing Corporation are given the official title -
Registered Social Landlords (RSLs).

Impact

Broader or longer-term effects of a project's or organisation's outputs, outcomes and activities.

Indicator

Measure of achievement.
See also Performance indicator

Infrastructure

The physical facilities, structures, systems, relationships, people, knowledge and skills that exist to support and develop, coordinate, represent and promote front line organisations, thus enabling them to deliver their missions more effectively.

Infrastructure Organisations

Often called 'Second tier' or 'Umbrella' organisations, they support frontline VCOs.

Legislation

A body of laws

Local authority/Local council

The locally elected body responsible for government in a county, city or district and which can also mean parish and town councils, all of which should all be signed up to a Local Compact.

Local Compact

A Compact, modelled on the national Compact, designed and agreed to by public bodies and voluntary and community organisations for a local or county area.

Local Government Association

The organisation that represents local councils in England and Wales.

Local Strategic Partnership

Initiative in every local authority to develop partnership working between public agencies, voluntary groups and business and to more effectively deliver public services.

Match Funding

The process by which certain funders will only fund a percentage of the total costs of a project (e.g. 50%) and require the remainder to be matched with income from other funders or in-kind donations.

Memorandum and Articles of Association

Companies limited by guarantee have a legal document called the Memorandum and Articles of Association instead of a constitution.

Milestone

A well-defined and significant step towards achieving a target, output, outcome or impact, allowing one to track progress.

Mission

The broad effect the organisation or project wants to have, why it exists. A summary of the overall difference it wants to make.

Monitoring

Collecting and recording information in a routine and systematic way to check progress against plans and enable evaluation.

National Compact

The national Compact is an agreement between the voluntary and community sector and government to improve their relationship for mutual advantage. Local Compacts aim to do this locally between the sector, councils and other local public bodies.

National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)

National umbrella organisation representing the voluntary sector.

Neighbourhood Renewal Area

One of England's 88 poorest local authority areas receiving substantial extra government funding in which there must be sector involvement in policy and project delivery, along with a Local Strategic Partnership

Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF)

Funding that is available in each of the governments designated 88 most deprived areas.

Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy (NRS)

The government's overall plan for regenerating disadvantaged areas.

New Deal for Communities (NDC)

An initiative designed to provide intensive financial support to regenerate relatively small geographic areas

New Opportunities Fund (NOF)

A former lottery distributor fund that has now been merged into the Big Lottery Fund.

Objectives

The areas of activity or overall practical steps a project or organisation plans to accomplish its aims.

Organisational Development

Development and reinforcement of organisational strategies, structures and processes for improving an organisation's effectiveness.

Outcomes

The changes, benefits, learning or other effects that result from what the project or organisation makes, offers or provides.

Outputs

The products, services or facilities a project or organisation offers or provides to its users.

Partnership

Normally used in relation to a formal partnership body, often accountable to a board that may be responsible for delivering a government funding programme. Can be used to describe an approach to working together.

Performance

The extent to which a VCO achieves its mission and furthers its cause.

Performance improvement

Achieving one's mission more effectively; achieving better outcomes, and becoming a better quality organisation.

Primary Care Trust (PCT)

A local statutory organisation, often called the PCT, with wide responsibility for the delivery of health services through GP surgeries, clinics and centres. Further information: http://www.natpact.nhs.uk/

Private Finance Initiative (PFI)

Government initiative to develop large capital projects initially financed by the private sector and then leased back to the public sector.

Procurement

The process by which public sector bodies purchase services from both private and voluntary sector organisations. Central Government is increasingly interested in local authorities and other agencies procuring services delivered by voluntary organisations (including faith groups) instead of delivering those services directly

Programme

A co-ordinated series of projects or one complex project with multiple co-ordinated services.

Project

A particular service or a whole organisation (more frequently used of smaller organisations).

Public Bodies

All local statutory public sector organisations including the local authority; primary care trust, other health trusts, emergency services, learning and skills councils, colleges, connexions, etc. The national public sector comprises government, non-departmental government bodies (NDPBs) and various other statutory bodies. All public bodies operating at national or regional level should comply with the national Compact and any local branches (e.g. job centres) should also be involved in Local Compacts. (See also Statutory bodies).

Public Law

Public law is the set of legal principles governing the exercise of power by public authorities. Public law remedies are those procedures by which citizens can challenge the fairness or legality of their decisions. They include judicial review in the High Court, and also non-court based procedures, such as ombudsmen schemes and complaints procedures.

Public Service Delivery

Where a voluntary or private sector organisation delivers a service that is paid for by a public sector body.

Qualitative Information

Information about the nature of the thing someone is doing, providing or achieving.

Quality

Learning about what you are doing well and doing it better; finding out what you may need to change to make sure you meet the needs of your users more effectively.

Quality standards

A set of statements about the quality of a service that can be verified and measured as part of monitoring and evaluation processes.

Quango

Acronym for 'Quasi-Autonomous Non-Governmental Organisation'. These are part of central government but operate at arm's length from it. Examples include the Charity Commission and Health and Safety Executive.

Quantitative Information

Information about the number of things someone is doing, providing or achieving, or the length of those things, or the number of times they happen.

Quick Wins

A term used to refer to relatively cheap and easy initiatives that have a significant impact.

Regeneration

The process of improving disadvantaged or hard pressed areas.

Regional Assembly/Chamber

A regional body in each of the 8 English regions (except London) which scrutinises the work of the Regional Development Agency. In London, this is done by the Greater London Authority.

Regional Development Agencies (RDAs)

The agency within each of the 9 English regions, Scotland and Wales that promotes economic growth and regeneration.

Regions

The 9 regional areas that England is divided into: South West, South East, London, West Midlands, East Midlands, East of England, North West, North East, Yorkshire and the Humber.

Registered Charity

Organisations that have charitable purposes can register with the charity commission to become a registered charity, a legal status strictly governed by charity law.

Resources

The things a project or organisation draws on to carry out its activities. These include concrete things such as people, equipment, money and services you need. It also includes invisible things such as time, morale and knowledge.

Ring Fencing

The process by which money within a larger fund is kept aside for a specific purpose.

Risk Analysis

Systematic assessment of the threats or vulnerabilities which may affect any aspect of VCO's business, including the likelihood of occurrence, potential severity of impact and mitigation measures needed.

Second Tier Organisations

See Infrastructure Organisations

Single Pot

The regeneration funds that have now been placed into a single pot under the direction of Regional Development Agencies.

Single Regeneration Budget

A regeneration fund which has now been merged into the Single Pot that provided specific communities with multi-year regeneration funds.

Social Capital

The degree of social cohesion in communities. Refers to processes between people that establish networks, norms and social trust, and facilitate co-ordination and co-operation for mutual benefit.

Social Enterprise

A business with primarily social objectives. Surpluses are re-invested for the purpose in the business or in the community, rather than distributed to shareholders. Social Enterprises can encompass everything from mutuals, employee-owned businesses, private companies or co-operatives.

Social Entrepreneurs

Individuals who are instrumental in setting up or running social enterprises

Social Exclusion

The term used to describe people or areas that suffer from multiple disadvantage, e.g. in areas of unemployment, high crime, low incomes and poor housing.

Social Regeneration

The term that differentiates social aspects of regeneration such as from economic dimensions of regeneration.

Specialist Infrastructure Organisations

Organisations which either support the organisations in a particular sub-sector or offer a particular area of expertise.
See also Generic Infrastructure Organisations

Stakeholders

People with an interest in the organisation. Includes internal stakeholders such as staff, volunteers, or management committee members, as well as external stakeholders such as users, funders etc.

Statutory Bodies

Organisations created by Acts of Parliament which define their powers and duties.

Statutory Services

Services that a public sector body is required by law to deliver/provide.

Sure Start

An initiative that aims to improve children's life opportunities by funding projects that work with parents and parents-to-be in deprived areas.

Sustainability

Continuation of benefits after major assistance ends. The probability of longer-term benefits. Or, the process whereby an organisation moves from short term funding for their activities to more dependable funding.

Sustainable Communities Plan

The plan for developing urban areas in the UK that people will want to live in.

Sustainable development

A process of development that allows economic growth without damaging the environment or natural resources.

Target

A defined level of achievement which a project sets itself to achieve in a specific period of time.

Third Sector

Generic collective name for charity, voluntary, non government and campaigning organisations.

Third Sector Review

Looks at the role of the third sector in social and economic regeneration. The review takes a long-term view of what is needed for the sector to thrive over the next ten years. The Third Sector Review is part of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Third Tier Organisation

Infrastructure organisation which supports other infrastructure (or 'second tier') organisations.

Transparency

Quality of being open, straightforward, accountable etc.

Umbrella Organisations

Can refer either to membership bodies or federations, or more loosely to infrastructure bodies.

Undertaking

Commitments or promises that each side makes to the other, or jointly, in a Compact, that are implemented by the signatories and when breached can be remedied through compliance mechanisms.

Unincorporated Association

The law looks on an unincorporated organisation as a collection of individuals, which means it cannot in its own right:

§ hold property

§ enter into contracts

§ take part in a lawsuit.

Vision

The ideal state a project or organisation wants the world to be in. What the world will look like if the project or organisation is successful in achieving its mission and aims.

Voluntary and Community Infrastructure

The support structures in place at a local, regional and national level for voluntary and community organisations.

Voluntary and Community Sector

The name used to describe organisations that are neither public or private sector. Voluntary organisations are typically larger and unlike community organisations may not be rooted in one individual local community.

Volunteer

Someone performing a service without payment (except expenses) or coercion.

White Paper

Statement of policy issued by government. White papers often form the basis of new legislation, and are usually preceded by a consultative green paper.

Workforce Development

The process of developing the skills and knowledge of paid staff, volunteers and trustees and board members, underpinned by good management and good employment practice. It also includes work to attract new people to work in the sector so it can flourish and grow.